November 2013 How To Survive! - Knife guide

Knives. The basic concept behind them—slicing, dicing—hasn’t really changed much since the caveman or whichever hominid invented the idea of putting something sharp on a stick. But the technology sure has evolved, from the type of blade to the handle materials. Here’s a sampling of what’s available from today’s sharpy-tool innovators.

Bear & Son Cutlery 71⁄4 Upswept SkinnerWhat: It’s a hunting knife. Wondering about the name? That 71⁄4 stands for its overall length.Features: This knife utilizes a 3.13-inch high-carbon stainless steel blade. The knife comes with a leather sheath.Neat tech: It has a stag Delrin handle. Delrin is a type of plastic engineered to not crack or break.Dollars: It’s about $43.Where: Bear & Son Cutlery, bearandsoncutlery.com

McMillan DiamondBlade KnifeWhat: This custom hunting knife from McMillan was developed through a partnership with DiamondBlade, another knife maker. Features: It is 4 inches in length and weighs 5.5 ounces. It has a corrosion-proof construction, a drop-point blade, and 65-68 Rockwell hardness.Neat tech: Friction forging, which is a forging style that focuses on the blade edge zone, via high pressure and frictional heat.Dollars: About $495.Where: McMillan, mcmillanusa.com

Gerber Propel AOWhat: The AO stands for assisted opening; the Propel series is all about being stealthy, fast, and easy to carry, according to the company. Features: A tanto-style blade, corrosion-resistant black oxide coating, and plunge lock make up a few of the notables. The overall length is 8.5 inches, and it weighs 1.57 ounces.Neat tech: The AO is version 2.0 technology, for rapid deployment when there isn’t a moment to spare.Dollars: Starts at $125.Where: Gerber, gerbergear.com

Schrade Old Timer Switch-It Scamp5What: This stainless steel Schrade hunting knife configuration has a skinner, saw, drop point, and clip point.Features: The saw blade is 7.1 inches, the drop point is 4.7, the clip point is 4.2, and the skinner is 4. Regardless, it weighs 8.3 ounces.Neat tech: In case you didn’t catch that, it has an interchange- able fixed-blade lockback— offering four different blade options.Dollars: It’ll cost you about $48.Where: Schrade, taylorbrandsllc.com

Blackhawk Gideon SeriesWhat: This series of knives covers all the bases–if you need self defense, there’s the Gideon Tanto knife. Multipurpose? Gideon Drop Point knife. Features: The Tanto has a 5-inch fixed blade, while the Drop Point is a 5-incher ideal for cutting through rope or quartering whatever you hunted. Both are stainless
steel and their overall length is 10.25 inches, with two holes in the blade for simple tethering.Neat tech: The Drop Point has an additional finger groove in front of the quillon for super-steady control and hold.Dollars: Each one runs about $130.Where: Blackhawk, blackhawk.com

Buck Knives Micarta Harvest SeriesWhat: This is a series of hunting knives—10-inch boning, 7.13-inch caping, and 7.25-inch waterfowler.Features: Each has a full tang blade for strength and longevity and are constructed from 420HC stainless steel for corrosion resistance and edge retention.Neat tech: The Linen Micarta handle is pretty much immune to any type of weather, oils, solvents, or whatever you get on it. Dollars: They’re sold individually for around $70 each.Where: Buck Knives, buckknives.com

Spyderco South Fork By Phil WilsonWhat: This fixed-blade outdoor knife was a collaboration between outdoorsman Phil Wilson and Spyderco.Features: Its overall length is 9.58 inches, while the blade length is 4.82 inches. Weight clocks in at 5.4 ounces. It also has an integral guard to protect your hand. Neat tech: According to Spyderco, the CPM-S90V particle metallurgy steel “was developed as a wear-resistant steel for use in feed screws in plastic injection molding machines.” That’s what gives it extra oomph in the performance and edge retention departments. Dollars: Its MSRP is $429.95.Where: Spyderco, spyderco.com